Archive for December, 2011

There is only one thing you can think of when you are asked if you want to see a magic trick. Well for me there is and it’s a pencil going through a guy’s skull. Creepy? Disturbed? Yes, but so is The Joker:

This picture has suffered quite a bit of smudging over the years and for this I apologize. I am also sad I didn’t spray it with some sort of protector to prevent it from happening.

Heath Ledger played the best Joker out there. It is sad to think this great talent is now lost and probably lost due to some of the damage suffered from playing this character.

I love a good movie, but it’s got to be a really good movie like Sherlock Holmes (the newest ones). Lord of the Rings, The Prestige, Pirates of the Caribbean (the first one only), Jurrasic Park just to name a few. Think those summer or Christmas Holiday blockbusters. In my opinion the best movies out there have to have a combination of great writing, excellent costumes, diverse cinematography, and a score that makes your skin tingle. Taking all these things into consideration though, if your villain sucks it can ruin the whole thing.

I love a good villain. Not just any villain though. Anyone could have a stunt-double through a punch for you and most of the world is looking to get some sort of vengeance for something. I love a good mentally twisted villain. Show me you’re smart and still want to make bad choices. This is truly an evil person and someone you can quickly hate. This is also the kind of person that can, scarily enough, captivate an audience both on the screen and in real life. A guy walking down the street dressed in goth with a look to kill doesn’t always set me on edge. Marilyn Manson scares the hell out of me. What’s the difference? I know Marilyn Manson is very intelligent and he still chooses this look and this life. Thinking about that gives me a shudder. Create a villain around this and they will carry the movie.

When I was sketching with pens only I found it really hard to pick photos for inspiration. Anything too bright or anything with too many details often didn’t work all that well. Anything too dark would take up too much pen and too much time. I did, however, decide to thow all cation to the wind and see if I could empty a pen on just one sketch.

Shockingly I did not finish the pen. Those people at Bic really know how to pack a pen full of ink! I even remember starting this drawing with a fresh pen, just to see if I could do it. I think the outcome of this drawing is striking. It was a very unique experience drawing inverted, if you will. The whole way through this drawing I didn’t think it would work. I had to keep reminding myself to colour it in, fully, otherwise it would look odd. My mind wanted to do the exact opposite; leave it blank, sketch a little bit for shading and leave it alone!

NO! Colour it in!! I always like looking at this picture with squinted eyes. It blurs all the lines just enough to make it seem like solid photo without all the small gaps of white. I think I would like to do more art in this fashion. To be honest, posting about the drawings done in pen inspires me to fill another sketch book with only pen drawings. It’s time to reshape those skills and apply some discipline!

The sketch above is from 2004, so it has clearly been a while since I have exercised this.

I think it’s getting harder to match my drawings to my current thoughts. I was saying to my roommate today that I hope to get to the place with this blog where I have an interesting thought and have to draw something to match it, just so I can post it later. This would also be a good challenge for my skills as well as provide subjects in which I can sketch.

Seeing how this is not quite where we are at, here is a drawing from my pen sketch book:

I can never tell if this child is hiding in way of a game or secret, or if they are hiding in fear. I think it changes every time I look at it. Today it seems like this child is hiding from something. Perhaps something within themselves they do not wish exposed. If you hide from it it’s almost as if it’s not there or not happening. When a baby covers their face for a game of hide and seek the whole world disappears to them. If they cannot see you, they themselves must be invisible.

You could also look at this picture as a child who has been told to cover their eyes, as they are about to receive a gift! Children being children will often peek through their fingers, thinking of course as long as the symbol (their hands) are in front of their face the illusion of surprise will still be there.

Something in this pictures eyes that tells me it’s more the former than the latter. It’s funny how a simple child’s game of hide and seek is often played on a larger and more strategic scale by adults. Hiding aspects of ourselves, believing them to be invisible to those around us. It is said the greatest wish of most humans is to be known. How can we accomplish this if no one is willing to start.

I was speaking with friends the other day about how fun it would be to assume a different identity when moving to another city. You could create a whole back-story, accent, family, anything you wanted, just to see how long it would take for those around you to see though it. You read this and think how deceitful that is. How many people are making up cover stories for the things going on inside? How long have you believed the stories from people you love?

Before any of my family members have a stroke and think I’m talking about some dramatic thing going on in my life, I’m not. Though no one is really the exception to this. We all do it. Big or small. The real question is are you going to let the stories go until someone breaks it, or will you come clean yourself?

Just moments ago I was reading an article regarding the Dugger family (19 Kids and Counting) and how they had recently suffered a miscarriage with their 20th child. Photos were taken with the stillborn’s feet and hands in the fingers of the mom. These photos were not meant to be pubic, but obviously made their way onto the internet. These are now considered controversial photos regarding inappropriate ways to celebrate or morn life. What caught my eye is at the bottom of the article. Yahoo said, “suffering a miscarriage is certainly tragic.” I couldn’t agree more; however, we are in day and age where abortion is so widely accepted. Isn’t abortion just a controlled miscarriage? One cannot be tragic without the other being equally so.

My sister is due to have the first baby in the family since my 21-year-old cousin. My coming niece will hopefully be here within the week! The best Christmas present I could ask for really. Perhaps this is why the article and statement is hitting me harder than normal. In light of this article and our new family member I decided to share this drawing:

This is from my sketch book of portraits. My friend above gave birth to her first baby, a boy nearly three years ago now. She invited me over for a photo session barely a week after his birth. I can’t wait to photograph my niece. I always love turning my photography into sketches. It gives me a very well-rounded sense of creativity.

I do not wish to turn this blog into a political soapbox, nor do I wish to impose my beliefs or opinions on those who read it. I do feel the complete lack for life, both in womb and out off womb in our society today to be truly disgraceful. A friend of mine had status a while back that was something along the lines of, “Things were created to be used and people were created to be loved. Where we went wrong is when we started using people and loving things”

I think this is a quote worthy of reflecting on this Christmas Season. Please. Spend some time loving on the people around you. The things given to you are only meant to enhance your loving of people, not replace it.

If your interest started and ended with the article I referenced, here is the link:

Today Coldplay tickets for my city (well a city near me) go on sale! I will be attending their concert in April as a birthday present and this will be my fifth time seeing them! I have been listening to their music for probably 10 or 11 years. Their music inspires me to be a more creative person. Though I don’t have the musical talent or gifting to play an instrument I am able to pick up a pencil and create this way.

Or in this case I picked up a pen. This is another drawing from my pen sketch book. I can remember exactly where I was and what it was like outside when I drew this. I only have such vivid memories of this because it was a pain in the ass to draw. measuring out all their faces into this tiny space was very difficult. In all fairness, this drawing was early on in my pen sketch book phase and I hadn’t quite got down the art of drawing with a pen. I also really sucked at drawing mouths and noses, so I conveniently cut them out of this picture! I thought it was pretty smart. The end result is also artistic in itself.

When I first started drawing with a pen I would purchase really thick black jell pens. I like these for their heavy markings and when you touch them just lightly to the paper they leave a very thin line. Turns out in the end the best pen to draw with are the cheap crap pens. These don’t bleed all over your drawing and will work more like a pencil.

I am very much looking forward to seeing Coldplay in concert for yet another time. It is on my Bucket List to meet them. I am always afraid of getting embarrassingly star-struck, though I am no 14 year old and Coldplay is no Justin Bieber, so I think I might be mature enough to handle it.

I love drawing my friends and family members. It’s just really fun to draw someone who’s personally is very known to you. The reason behind this is you begin to recognize the person you are drawing as you draw them. I always love drawing the eyes. So much of someones personality is behind their eyes. Usually when I am drawing someone I know I will do their eyes over and over until I begin to feel excited inside, “Hey! There you are. I recognize that face!” Almost immediately I am flooded with good memories with this person and those memories and personality traits start filling out the rough edges of my pencil.

Here is a good friend of mine. Let’s call her Amy:

Amy and I have a good friend who needed to put together a portfolio of her make-up artistry. We also have another mutual friend who happens to be an excellent photographer. We all got together to create a portfolio for her in just one night. This drawing is a rendition of Amy’s photo shoot. Amy loves Disney more than most things and has been to Disneyland more times than I can remember. I have also had the joy of joining Amy on a trip to Disneyland with a few friends. These memories were quite present at the time of the drawing.

Amy’s hair is a beautiful reddish gold and not something to take lightly. I spent two hours alone making sure every curl was in just it’s right place and properly shaded. I also love the perch of Amy’s chin in her hands in this photo. I really enjoyed drawing her hands as well. Some people have a personality that bubbles over the moment you meet them. Amy is one of those. I hope that even if you don’t know who she is you can identify her charms and quick witted mouth from this drawing.

Whenever I draw someone I know I feel I am bringing them into the room stroke by stroke. It gives me the same sense and joy as if they are currently sitting next to me.

After yesterday’s ‘Craig’ I feel the need to redeem myself and inform you that I do have skills with art. Below is a picture from my pen sketch book. That’s right, every line here is authentic, no erasing or redoing:

As you can see this was from a while ago, 2007. I couldn’t really tell you why I chose this drawing, though who isn’t inspired by a good stretch? I love how the muscles are exposed. It almost seems as if there isn’t any skin covering them. I had the privilege of attending a Body Worlds Exhibit quite some time ago. When you first walk into the exhibit you can’t stop talking about how amazingly the body was designed. Your mind is in awe over all the muscles, bones, and organs, all appropriately placed and shaped. It doesn’t take long though before your mind tells your mouth to shut up and just take it in. You soon realize that your words are no match for the creative genius behind the creation of man. I feel like the model in this picture is embracing this fact. Arms wide open.

Every artist is obsessed with the human form to some degree or another. No, I have never drawn a naked person. When I am waiting in a doctors office I am always memorized by the charts displaying the skeleton and muscle systems. I like to study them, looking at the bones in the arm while digging around in my own arm placing each one. As a child this really use to freak my mom out. My favorite was the skull. I would push the skin around my eyes saying, “Look mom! This is how big my eye socket really is!”. My favorite was spreading my mouth open wide to expose my jaw. “‘ook on! ‘his is how ‘ig iee ‘aw is!” Yea she really hated it.

Leonardo Da Vinci has sketch books among sketch books full of drawings of the human anatomy. It is said to this day they are the most accurate drawings of the human body. For my birthday one year my dad took me to the art museum to see the drawings for myself. I was in complete astonishment. Leonardo was actually in possession of a deceased human body, to which he pealed back layer by layer to document what was inside. I’m pretty sure it would be inappropriate for me to do this now, so I will have to settle for one day owning the book that contains many of these pictures.